The image is the exact same width as the Von Waite deck's (probably the Pam A deck, as far as I'm concerned), but about a quarter-inch shorter (a little over a centimeter), which accounts for the slightly squashed proportions. The naked women seem to have gotten discreet boob jobs, and the 9 of Pentacles lady kind of looks to me like a drag queen for some reason. (Actually, I am looking at the image on the Von Waite now, and she does have a squarish, sort of manly jaw and a too-broad neck, too. Go figure!). And the Emperor really needs to hit the gym but pronto.

The colors are not too bad, with muddier yellows and more vibrant reds than the Von Waite, but similar ochres and yellows, and rich oranges. The pebbled backs are very washed out, however, and the back borders are really misaligned --and I do mean REALLY misaligned.

I have a feeling that this could have been a much better deck, but it suffers from having been printed at home with not-too-good inkjet printers, or so it feels. There are some fine white lines on some backgrounds from when the ink started to run out. The cardstock is semi matte and very thin, but serviceable.

It is a deck that begs (loudly) to be trimmed, and then retouched on the back with a pale orange crayon. An unpretentious RWS deck to be carried in your pocket or your purse, larger and less drab than the tin Centennial.

I really hope the author is listening, and that he corrects the squashing and maybe creates a borderless, less faded back. That could really brig this deck up to snuff. As it is, I quite like it, warts and all.

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